Entries tagged with i heart you

3 posts in (what counts more or less as) one day! That's a new one. :D Just got back from a small fireworks display one village over (30 min walk to get there and 30 min back =.=) and am just about ready to fall asleep, but tradition is tradition. My start into the year involved fireworks going past my head way too close to comfort and a random trash can on fire (it was melting! Actually looked kinda cool? But we called the fire brigade and it got put out, don't worry), so I hope that's not how the rest of 2016 goes. <.< BUT on the other hand I started it hanging out with the most awesome of friends. That we can keep going. :P

Looking back on 2015 is a bit weird, because it feels simultaneously like a lot happened AND not a lot happened. I'm not sure how to describe that feeling, but it might have to do with how I've been 'just' working since the end of 2014, instead of school/Uni/something else with a clear goal in mind. It's still strange to think that I'll be doing this job for the next 40 years or so. I still love my co-workers, but my boss is...somewhat trying at times and the commute is annoying as hell, so I'm gonna put in that transfer request pretty soon.

The biggest thing of 2015 for me was when I got to meet rhea314 in September, which I had been looking forward to and planning for months. We had a good three weeks to hang out and travel and discover Germany and it was the most wonderful time. It's interesting how I never really think of my own country (and especially my own region) as a tourist destination, and seeing it from that perspective was a great experience. We went to Cologne, Heidelberg, Freiburg, Konstanz and Meersburg (with fishpatrol ! Who I got to see a lot this year, which was A+++++++++++ excellent), Ludwigsburg, Baden-Baden...but the highlight for me was probably Neuschwanstein. I'd never been there before, but it really looks like you imagine castles as a child. Giant rooms and hallways, fancy decorations and all. It really is worth a visit, even though it's crowded as hell and hard to reach. Other than that it was just really cool to hang out with a fellow fangirl, as always. We even recorded couple podfics together, so that was awesome. <3

Less awesome was how I twisted my ankle in October. :/ I had to wear a giant moon boot and stay home for almost 4 weeks and still don't feel quite back in shape, but hey, at least it gave me plenty of time to play video games (I finished Tales of Zestiria in a little over one week, which is a personal record that I don't ever want to attempt to beat tbh) and record and edit podfic, but I'll make a different year in review post for that.

Fannishly I feel like I've been all over the place this year. I should probably stop comparing every fandom I fall into to SGA, because nothing will ever be as all-encompassing as that. But I'm looking forward to finding out what my next fandom love will be. <3

Right then, that's about it, short and sweet. Tomorrow I'm going to a spa/pool and also to see Star Wars (after watching all the previous movies over the last couple of months). And then I'll see what the new year brings. But hey, I'm turning 24, that age should bring me luck, right? Right. <3

I stayed with my sister on New Year's, so I couldn't write my usual, lack-of-sleep fueled retrospective of the year. I'm not gonna get the same level of emotion without that, which might be why I've been avoiding it. Also the last couple of days I've been rather preoccupied with video games, but it's time to stop procrastinating and get some words down before I have to go back to work.

Looking through my 2014 calendar, the most important things go something like this:

I graduated, getting my fancy-sounding Bachelor of Laws, and started working properly. That's...a lot of stuff summarized in one short sentence. Uni was exhausting, this final year obviously even more so than the previous two, and I'm really glad it's over. No more exams for me, thank god. And I even got an entire free month after classes ended, which I really, really needed.

Now that that's all over, I finally feel like I have more energy for socializing, keeping up with friends that I don't see regularly, and renewing contact where it got lost. And oh wow, that is a good feeling.

All in all it was a good time for me though, and I'm at a bit of a loss now that I'm looking towards to about 40 years of working. But I'll get over that, I'm sure. Honestly, there've never been many periods of time in my life where I was uncertain about what came next, education and career wise, and I'm really grateful for that. I'm really not one for spontaneity or taking big risks.

In other things that stood out and made the year special, I got to meet my favourite fishpatrol (keeping my 1-new-fangirl-meeting-per-year streak alive, aw yeah), saw Amsterdam again (still lovely, A++, would visit again), discovered the joy of snarking my way through a museum, went to Hamburg with my parents and went to the Bodensee with my whole family. I started the year a bit disgruntled because I had no big vacation plans, but in the end it turned out super awesome.

There's Japanese vocabulary all over my calendar, which is mostly a sign that I procrastinated a lot during classes, let's be real. But studying Japanese provided a much needed balance to studying for Uni, and I really feel like I improved this year. In December I took the next level of the JLPT and hopefully I'll get good news about that soon.

On the fandom side of things, I've now been part of it for half my life in one way or another. Lurking, mostly, but also more actively in the last few years. Between everything that was going on in my life I couldn't really put a lot of time into creating podfic, which is why I'm not doing an end of the year stats meme. However, I did make some progress on the project of my heart and will do my best to finish it soon.

So, yeah. It's a bit weird to not have this clear "This is what you need to accomplish next" feeling that I've had basically my whole life, but I'm planning on enjoying the hell out of it. I have super exciting plans for this year that I'm looking forward to like you would not believe and I'm pretty sure it's going to be awesome.

Three entries in (almost) three days seems somewhat excessive, but I wanted to keep the tradition of this personal year in review post (which always ends up a it weird and emotional, but whatever). It's 2 AM and I just got back from a night out with my parents, which we spent at my favourite Italian restaurant, with way too much food, fireworks and live music. I am slightly tipsy and 5 seconds away from crying over Beyoncé's XO because I have too many feelings. But in a good way.

So. 2013.

Thanks to the podfic friending meme late in 2012 I started following and talking to a lot more fandom people over the last year. Once again I feel more involved and I got to develop a few deeper relationships that have been truly, incredibly good for me. I hope I can sustain and grow them, as well as add more. I couple more every year, that sounds like a good goal to have.

I got to meet two fangirls this year, one of them more than once. I spent some 3 days in Munich with sylvaine and hananobira that were simultaneously a bad idea because exams and a no-brainer, because I will always take any chances I get to meet people who are important to me face to face. Let's see how many I get to meet next year.

I continued to create fanworks and got more comfortable and confident as a podficcer. And like I mentioned in my last posts, I also go to do some collaborations, which is something that I will hopefully keep doing in the years to come. I participated in challenges. I started an incredibly ambitious project that love to pieces. I told my parents more about my fannish life! Especially about podfic, which was partially because I asked for a microphone as a birthday present, granted.

I started watching hockey, which I can't even pretend to regret, even if it means getting up in the middle of the night way too often. I got to see my team, the first (non-national) sports team I've ever been invested in, go all the way. And dear god am I way too emotional invested in these idiots. I got into new fandoms an fell back into old ones way too often to count.

I gave in and got a tumblr. I started listening to podcasts. I tried my best to exercise regularly, even if I was out of commission fairly often. It feels like my body still hasn't adjusted to working full time, especially with the latest, raher frustrating developments my health has taken, but hopefully it'll get better soon. I'm looking forward to the consistency I'll get back into my life once I'm done with Uni and won't be constantly in transit between two places and lifestyles. Which, yeah. The next few months, my last as a student, will be incredibly stressful. But hopefully worth it in the end.

My sister got married in the fall. It was such a beautiful and gorgeous and perfect days, all about two of the most important people in my life. I love them so much.

I continued to read more about feminism, as well as all sorts of other things. Reading about them in English and trying to apply them in German continues to be difficult, but I'm trying. I keep developing my own style and try to be comfortable in my body. I got a fucking awesome haircut. I hope I'm growing as a person, even though growing up is still really scary.

2014 will a very significant year in some ways. I can't count it to the day, but I'm taking my birthday as my fandom anniversary, which means that as of February 24th, I will have been in some form of fandom for exactly half my life. I don't know where I would be without it, and I don't even want to speculate on it, because I like where I am and who I am.

FIRST NAME: Christiane; Chrisi for most people (This includes you, fandom peeps.).

AGE: 20, but I'm turning 21 in a few weeks.

LOCATION: A tiny village in the south-west of Germany, on the very edge of the Black Forest (apparently). Though I mostly call Karlsruhe, the next bigger city, my home town.

OCCUPATION: I'm almost half-way through my 3 year program to get my Bachelor of law in tax law/administration, while also being in training at the tax office. It's a dual system we have over here - I switch back and forth between Uni and work for a few months at a time.

PARTNER: No.

KIDS: Mmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaybe. At some point. In the far future. At the moment, I still prefer kids that I can give back to their parents after a few hours.

SIBLINGS: I have a sister who is 2 years older than me and who is one of my best friends. We always got along really well as kids, which is why I had trouble understanding friends who always fought with their siblings. The only source of conflict was apparently that she wanted to play with me more often while I was quite happy to keep myself occupied. My sister got her degree the same year that I started working on mine and is now working in an IT sort of job, where she is doing really well. She is fannishly adjacent, having been in fandom herself for a while, and is the one person in my family who really understands everything I'm talking about whenever I mention fannish things. Her boyfriend, aka future bro-in-law (THEY ARE POSSIBLY GETTING ENGAGED NEXT WEEK, EEEEEEEEE~ <3), is like a brother to me. He's ridiculous and awesome and he's basically been part of the family since he and my sister got together...7 years ago, I think. They moved into an apartment in a nearby village about 4 years ago. They always look out for me and are basically the best.

PETS: We had a dog for about 2 weeks when I was a smaller, but then my Dad discovered he's allergic. So no more pets for us after that. My sister and I looked after the ponies of an acquaintance for a long time, though.

3-5 BIGGEST THINGS GOING ON IN YOUR LIFE: Uni and work take up most of my time. I'm currently at work, but in March I'm going back to uni for 5 months. This year I also have to write my Bachelor thesis and we have to work on a big group project, so there isn't much time left for other commitments. I do, however, always make time for fandom because it makes me so incredibly happy. Recently I've made a lot of new friends in podfic fandom and interacting with them everyday is just awesome. I also started practicing Jeet Kune Do/Filipino martial arts last year, through which I've met a group of great people that make me feel welcome and comfortable every time I go to training. And JKD brings me more joy and self-confidence than any other sport I've ever practiced.

PARENTS: My Mum works for the city administration, specifically in the cultural office. She's from a carny family, which meant that we used to get lots of free stuff at the fairs and at the christmas market. She has some difficulties understanding many parts of fandom and was very cautious when I started making noises about meeting people, but she's become more comfortable and even enthusiastic about it. I often don't want to talk about things while she has to talk everything out, but we get along well despite of all that. Honestly, I take more after my Dad in a lot of ways. Our sense of humor is very similar and I used to watch Star Trek and Hogan's Heroes and all kinds of old cop shows with him when I was younger. He works for a software company, doing things I don't understand, and he has worked from home since I was really young. He was always around when we came home from school, which was pretty cool. He's content to just let me do my thing, not asking too many questions, but he's still really supportive. Both of my parents are, and we've always gotten along great, which I'm really thankful for. <3

One year ago, when I first wrote a post like this, I wasn't in a bad position, life-wise. I was, however, still pretty fresh out of school, had just been dumped and was a few months into Uni, still not sure if I could make it in my chosen field of studies or if I'd even like it. I guess I was a bit wary and glad to leave some stuff behind. The year that followed was pretty great, ngl.

For the first time in my life, I went to work and Jesus fucking Christ was it exhausting (remember, 41 hours a week) but also exciting and new and good. I met a lovely and smart and awesome friend through work and continued to meet great people at Uni. I started practicing a martial art, which was hands-down one of the best decisions I've ever made. It brings me so much joy and balance, it's amazing. I bought a lot of skirts and went to see a lot of movies. For the first time in years, I went to a concert (fun.!) and for the first time in my life I went to see musicals (Wicked! and The Lion King!). I traveled to another country by myself, I got to see London again and unexpectedly I got to meet not only one but two fangirls face to face. And as we all know, fangirls are the best.

I posted my first podfics this year! I took me a long time and so far I only have two of them out there, but I'm incredibly proud of myself and so happy about having found a way to involve myself more in fandom. I got to know a lot more people in podfic (twitter) fandom and I look forward to getting to know them even better this year. I actually committed to a collaborative project, which makes me feel incredibly insecure but also extremely fucking excited. I got to enjoy so many amazing fanworks this past year. Hockey and Teen Wolf teamed up to RUIN MY LIFE and it continues to be the best thing ever.

I did some things I regret and some stupid things but I also made some fucking awesome life choices. I got things to be proud of, I got good grades, I took N5 of the goddamn Japanese Language Proficiency Test. I got shit done.

There's probably a lot of stuff I'm forgetting right now, but my calendar is in my other room and my sister and future-bro-in-law are crashing on my couch tonight, so. I think this is enough recapping anyway. It was a good year, is what I'm saying. Here's to another one. I love you, good night. <3

Happy new year, everyone! I hope you had a great time celebrating. We just came back from our own little festivities at the house of family friends, after an evening that I can actually compare quite fittingly to the last year when I say it was better than expected.

For me, 2011 was a year that I both anticipated and dreaded - a lot of big changes happened in my life. I finished my secondary education and got my Abitur with grades that made me cry with joy. The last year of school was probably one of the best. After a few years of...not enjoying going to school, to put it lightly, I was finally comfortable enough with myself to make it a sometimes annoying, but also fun part of my life.

I got the metal plates out of my jaw and my braces were removed - this may not seem like much, but it means a lot to me. The past 9 years were definitely worth it.

By the time I graduated, I'd already accepted a combined university/job...thingy with the tax office. I was honestly not sure if I'd like it, because it was very different from what I initially wanted, but now I'm so glad it turned out this way. Couldn't have made a better decision. In the 3 months I've been there, I have made friends with some extraordinary people, and, according to my Mum, I've grown a lot personality-wise. I'd like to believe that.

I went to Japan, which was one of the single most amazing experiences of my short life. I can't wait to go back and experience such kindness, hospitality and amazing food again.(Priorities, I have them. ;D) Hopefully it won't be too long until I can visit again.

And of course, fandom has been a constant in my life for a few years now and as always, I was unbelievably happy to be part of this over the course of 2011. Nothing quite compares. <3

Well then. I just removed a lot of people from my facebook friends, which I guess is my way of closure for a part of my life. Goodbye, douchebags. I don't have to concern myself with you anymore. Let's see what the next years bring with them.

Happy new year, everyone! I hope you had a great time celebrating. We just came back from our own little festivities at the house of family friends, after an evening that I can actually compare quite fittingly to the last year when I say it was better than expected.

For me, 2011 was a year that I both anticipated and dreaded - a lot of big changes happened in my life. I finished my secondary education and got my Abitur with grades that made me cry with joy. The last year of school was probably one of the best. After a few years of...not enjoying going to school, to put it lightly, I was finally comfortable enough with myself to make it a sometimes annoying, but also fun part of my life.

I got the metal plates out of my jaw and my braces were removed - this may not seem like much, but it means a lot to me. The past 9 years were definitely worth it.

By the time I graduated, I'd already accepted a combined university/job...thingy with the tax office. I was honestly not sure if I'd like it, because it was very different from what I initially wanted, but now I'm so glad it turned out this way. Couldn't have made a better decision. In the 3 months I've been there, I have made friends with some extraordinary people, and, according to my Mum, I've grown a lot personality-wise. I'd like to believe that.

I went to Japan, which was one of the single most amazing experiences of my short life. I can't wait to go back and experience such kindness, hospitality and amazing food again.(Priorities, I have them. ;D) Hopefully it won't be too long until I can visit again.

And of course, fandom has been a constant in my life for a few years now and as always, I was unbelievably happy to be part of this over the course of 2011. Nothing quite compares. <3

Well then. I just removed a lot of people from my facebook friends, which I guess is my way of closure for a part of my life. Goodbye, douchebags. I don't have to concern myself with you anymore. Let's see what the next years bring with them.

This post is partially inspired by the latest episode of /report, (which is a podcast everyone should listen to, srsly) but one that I was also planning to do for quite a while now. This is how I got into fandom:

At the age of - actually, no, let's not talk about how old I was <.<'' - I bought my first Manga. I'm pretty sure it was the first issue of Meitantei Conan (Detektiv Conan in German and Case Closed in America, I think.). One of the last few pages advertised a German anime fan site - rather THE German Anime fan site, honestly. I haven't been there in ages, but I'm pretty sure it's still where most of the German-language Anime and Manga fandom has settled down.Anyway. I got myself an account and it was pretty much the coolest thing ever - like-minded people, fan art, fanfiction and doujinshi. I started reading...well, mostly horribly cheesy Mary-Sue stuff, but that's where everyone starts, right? Eventually, I read my first slash fic. I'm pretty sure it must have been in Digimon fandom (Yamato/Taichi, fuck yeah!:D), but for the life of me, I neither remember what the fic was about, nor what my reaction to it was. This actually frustrates me, because I'd find that really interesting in retrospect. But apparently I just liked it a lot and moved on to the next one. ^^''

So that's how I got into slash (or yaoi, I guess). It also introduced me to BL/yaoi manga, though I didn't really start reading those until I was well into my lj-phase.

After a few years (3, actually. I wrote it down at some point) on that site, I must have found a link to ff.net, where I eventually started reading fanfic in english, because there was just so much more of it. Improving my English through reading was just a bonus, really. :) Another year of reading both on ff.net and the German site (all anime, all the time) passed until I got into Western fandom. Thinking about it now, I remember it surprisingly well. I read thehoyden's* fic on ff.net and clicked on the link to her website on her profile there, and then, out of curiosity, came upon her due South fic, which I adored immensely even without a clue about who those people were.

It took me a while to discover that most of Western fandom could be found on lj, but when I did I also found SGA fandom, which even now has a very special place in my heart. Still, I only opened this journal in 2009, so I must have spent a year or two lurking around prior to that. During that time, I got into several new fandoms a week, most notably bandom and, more recently, Inception. (Though I never fell quite as hard for them as was the case with SGA, sadly.)

And now I have been more or less active in fandom for two years. But even when I was just lurking, fandom got me through some pretty tough times. Not only that, It helped me learn a lot, both about the world and myself. I got to get to know some really great people. It helped me to become who I am today, as cheesy as that sounds, and I'm pretty damn happy with who that is.

Thank you, fandom. <3

* Oh god, I just realized she's the reason I discovered lj fandom in the first place and I never even commented on one of her fics. >.<''' Fail.

This post is partially inspired by the latest episode of /report, (which is a podcast everyone should listen to, srsly) but one that I was also planning to do for quite a while now. This is how I got into fandom:

At the age of - actually, no, let's not talk about how old I was <.<'' - I bought my first Manga. I'm pretty sure it was the first issue of Meitantei Conan (Detektiv Conan in German and Case Closed in America, I think.). One of the last few pages advertised a German anime fan site - rather THE German Anime fan site, honestly. I haven't been there in ages, but I'm pretty sure it's still where most of the German-language Anime and Manga fandom has settled down.Anyway. I got myself an account and it was pretty much the coolest thing ever - like-minded people, fan art, fanfiction and doujinshi. I started reading...well, mostly horribly cheesy Mary-Sue stuff, but that's where everyone starts, right? Eventually, I read my first slash fic. I'm pretty sure it must have been in Digimon fandom (Yamato/Taichi, fuck yeah!:D), but for the life of me, I neither remember what the fic was about, nor what my reaction to it was. This actually frustrates me, because I'd find that really interesting in retrospect. But apparently I just liked it a lot and moved on to the next one. ^^''

So that's how I got into slash (or yaoi, I guess). It also introduced me to BL/yaoi manga, though I didn't really start reading those until I was well into my lj-phase.

After a few years (3, actually. I wrote it down at some point) on that site, I must have found a link to ff.net, where I eventually started reading fanfic in english, because there was just so much more of it. Improving my English through reading was just a bonus, really. :) Another year of reading both on ff.net and the German site (all anime, all the time) passed until I got into Western fandom. Thinking about it now, I remember it surprisingly well. I read thehoyden's* fic on ff.net and clicked on the link to her website on her profile there, and then, out of curiosity, came upon her due South fic, which I adored immensely even without a clue about who those people were.

It took me a while to discover that most of Western fandom could be found on lj, but when I did I also found SGA fandom, which even now has a very special place in my heart. Still, I only opened this journal in 2009, so I must have spent a year or two lurking around prior to that. During that time, I got into several new fandoms a week, most notably bandom and, more recently, Inception. (Though I never fell quite as hard for them as was the case with SGA, sadly.)

And now I have been more or less active in fandom for two years. But even when I was just lurking, fandom got me through some pretty tough times. Not only that, It helped me learn a lot, both about the world and myself. I got to get to know some really great people. It helped me to become who I am today, as cheesy as that sounds, and I'm pretty damn happy with who that is.

Thank you, fandom. <3

* Oh god, I just realized she's the reason I discovered lj fandom in the first place and I never even commented on one of her fics. >.<''' Fail.

Most of the items on this list were actually punctuated by emphatic 'FUCK YEAH's and 'LIKE A BOSS's. ^.~

+ Never mind xxxholic, Skip Beat is being amazing right now. <3 I can't wait for the next chapter!

+ I went to a party on Saturday and it was so much fun! I don't wear dresses or make-up to school, so it's always fun to see people surprised about my appearance (in a good way!) at a party. Also, I freaking love the dress I was wearing. <3

+ It's my birthday soon! Wheeeeeeeeee! \^o^/

+ I finished playing Apollo Justice and I really really loved it! The dramatic plot twists were actually surprising (OMGOMGLamiroir!) and the characters are so much fun! Klavier especially. :D I was sad that there was no Miles (or Maya or Pearl), though. :( Anyway, now I only need the first game of the series and Miles Edgeworth Investigations, which apparently only came out in the UK? I think?

+ After years (well, months) of dedicated searching for Gordon Korman's 'I want to go home' I have finally found it (Thank you, Internet!). Victory arms! \^o^/ It's really entertaining so far! Now that I actually know the source material, I love the characters even more. Oh boys. <3

+ Have I mentioned that it's my birthday soon? And that I'm going to Japan in April? :D Writing this post has put me in an insanely good mood. I hope everyone is happy as well - if not, tell me and I will link you to happy-making stuff! I'm in the mood to spread the cheer! <3

Most of the items on this list were actually punctuated by emphatic 'FUCK YEAH's and 'LIKE A BOSS's. ^.~

+ Never mind xxxholic, Skip Beat is being amazing right now. <3 I can't wait for the next chapter!

+ I went to a party on Saturday and it was so much fun! I don't wear dresses or make-up to school, so it's always fun to see people surprised about my appearance (in a good way!) at a party. Also, I freaking love the dress I was wearing. <3

+ It's my birthday soon! Wheeeeeeeeee! \^o^/

+ I finished playing Apollo Justice and I really really loved it! The dramatic plot twists were actually surprising (OMGOMGLamiroir!) and the characters are so much fun! Klavier especially. :D I was sad that there was no Miles (or Maya or Pearl), though. :( Anyway, now I only need the first game of the series and Miles Edgeworth Investigations, which apparently only came out in the UK? I think?

+ After years (well, months) of dedicated searching for Gordon Korman's 'I want to go home' I have finally found it (Thank you, Internet!). Victory arms! \^o^/ It's really entertaining so far! Now that I actually know the source material, I love the characters even more. Oh boys. <3

+ Have I mentioned that it's my birthday soon? And that I'm going to Japan in April? :D Writing this post has put me in an insanely good mood. I hope everyone is happy as well - if not, tell me and I will link you to happy-making stuff! I'm in the mood to spread the cheer! <3